The Deeper Cause of the War (Volume 1)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1914. Excerpt: ... THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WAR Reprinted from the Political Quarterly, September 1914 The evidence as to the immediate causes of the European war has so far been made public by the issue of the German White Book and the British White Papers.1 These documents are already of historic value, and it is important that all who would grasp clearly the development of the situation in the critical days before the outbreak of hostilities should examine closely the materials of information which have been thus officially presented. It will be found by students that these documents require very careful collation, for the situation which they reflect was highly complex and developing very rapidly. It is well to give this warning. But a study and restudy of the materials thus available will enable the action of the several States in the crisis to be more clearly appreciated and the comparative responsibility of the various parties to be in certain important respects determined. Behind the proximate or immediate acts which led to the rupture of diplomatic relations and the outbreak of war lie large and deep issues. The development of the rival Teuton and Slav ambitions--the expansion of German influence in south-east Europe and in Asia Minor, the recovery and pressure of Russian political-and military policy, the activity of Servian agitation in the southern Slav provinces of Austria-Hungary, the jealousies and fears raised and unallayed by the Balkan settlement, the mutual suspicions of Germany and France and of Germany and England--these and other factors underlie the rapid ripening of the crisis which has convulsed Europe. Many other more immediate circumstances affecting the barometer of political and military opportunity have also to be taken into account by the st...